Quake sensors to be deployed in New Zealand

New Zealand: New earthquake sensors will be deployed across Canterbury and Marlborough in South Island, New Zealand, under a multimillion-dollar national project. From next year, GeoNet, a collaboration between the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and GNS Science, will roll out a monitoring station network across the upper South Island as part of a USD 45 million, five-year programme.

The earthquake and deformation-recording equipment would include seismographs, strong-motion recorders and GPS equipment. By 2016, 30 new seismic stations and 16 GPS sites would be sited in the Marlborough fault zone, he said.

In the next two years, 10 new instruments would be installed in Canterbury, mainly in Christchurch. Eventually, 40 instruments would be spread across the region, with 20 around the city.

GNS Science’s GeoNet project director, Dr Ken Gledhill, said the improved South Island network would provide a better match for North Island coverage.